Bod-Inc: P-533
Ptolemaeus Alexandrinus, Claudius
Quadripartitum cum commento Hali (trans. Aegidius de Thebaldis), et al. (ed. Hieronymus Salius Faventinus).
Analysis of Content
[*1r] [Title-page.]
[*1v] Salius Faventinus, Hieronymus: [Prefatory letter addressed to] Dominicus Maria de Anuaria (de Novara). Incipit: ‘[P]lerique sunt insolentes maledici multique ignaui Dominice carissime . . .’ See Thorndike–Kibre 1053.
[*2r] [Salius Faventinus, Hieronymus: List of contents.] Incipit: ‘Huius autem praesentis uoluminis distinctionem in libros . . .’
[*2r] [Tables of the section headings in all the works included in the edition.]
A2r Thebaldis, Aegidius de: [Preface to the Latin translation of the Quadripartitum.] Incipit: ‘Scire et intelligere gloriosum est quia omnis scientia est a Deo . . .’ Edited by Hieronymus Salius Faventinus, editor of the whole edition; see prefatory letter (above). See Thorndike–Kibre 1406.
A2r Hali: [Preface to the commentary on the Quadripartitum.] ‘Glose Haly Heben Rodan super prima parte . . . Ptholemei Pheludiani'. Translated by Aegidius de Thebaldis. As stated in his preface, his translation of both the Quadripartitum of Ptolemy and the commentary of Hali into Latin was undertaken at the command of Alphonsus X, King of Castille and León (1252-84). Incipit: ‘[U]erba quae dixit sapientissimus Ptholemeus in arte iudiciorum astronomiae . . .’ See also Thorndike–Kibre 1687.
A3r Ptolemaeus [Alexandrinus], Claudius: Quadripartitum. ‘Capitulum primum primi tractatus libri quadripartiti ptholemei . . . Prohemium'. Incipit: ‘Rerum Iesure in quibus est pronosticabilis scientiae stellarum perfectio . . .’ On the translators see P‑532. This translation from the Arabic is ascribed to Plato Tiburtinus in Carmody, 18 no. 10a, and Thorndike–Kibre 1349.
A3r Hali: Commentary on the Quadripartitum. Translated from Arabic into Latin by Aegidius de Thebaldis, as acknowledged in his preface. Incipit: ‘Ptolemaeus inspexit in omnibus maneriebus(!) pronosticationum . . .’ See Thorndike–Kibre 1148.
N6r Ptolemaeus [Alexandrinus], Claudius [pseudo-]: ‘Scientia proiectionis radiorum.’ Incipit: ‘[C]um proiectionem radiorum stellarum scire uolueris . . .’ See P‑532.
N7r Ptolemaeus [Alexandrinus], Claudius [pseudo-]: ‘De tribus natiuitatibus.’ Incipit: ‘[U]olo in hoc loco tibi dare exemplum . . .’ See Thorndike–Kibre 1710.
O1r Ptolemaeus Alexandrinus, Claudius [pseudo-]: Centiloquium. ‘Incipit liber centum uerborum Ptholemei cum commento Haly.’ The Arabic version was translated into Latin by Plato Tiburtinus. Incipit: ‘[D]ixit Ptholemeus: iam scripsi tibi Iesure libros de hoc quod operatur . . .’ See P‑532.
O1r
Hali [pseudo-; Ibn Y ǔsuf Ibn Ad-d ǎya, A
P3r Hermes Trismegistos: Centiloquium. ‘Liber Aphorismorum Centum Hermetis'. Translated from Greek into Latin by Stephanus Messanensis. Incipit: ‘[D]ixit Hermes. Sol et luna post deum omni(!) uiuentium uita sunt . . .’ editions of Hermes' Centiloquium and de stellis beibeniis are being edited by D. Pingree and P. Kunitzsch for Hermes Latinus IV, ed. P. Lucentini, Corpus Christianorum continuatio medievalis (Turnhout, in the press). See Carmody, 52-3 no. 3 and 3a; Thorndike–Kibre 1513.
P4r Salius Faventinus, Hieronymus: [Note referring to the Tabulae astronomicae of Alphonsus X.] Incipit: ‘Quamuis ego uiderim magnam partem harum stellarum . . .’
P4r Hermes Trismegistos: De stellis beibeniis. ‘ . . . De iudiciis et significatione stellarum beibeniarum in natiuitatibus'. Translated from Arabic into Latin by Hieronymus Salius Faventinus; see preface. Incipit: ‘[D]ixit Hermes: ego dicam uobis de rebus fortunae . . .’ See also Carmody, 55 no. 4 and Thorndike–Kibre 486.
P5r
Bethem:
Centiloquium.
Translated from Arabic into Latin by Plato Tiburtinus or Petrus de Abano; see Carmody, 74 no. 1a; Thorndike–Kibre 965.
Incipit: ‘[H]unc inchoabo librum de consuetudinibus in iudiciis stellarum . . .’
Wrongly ascribed to Abū ‘Abd Allāh Mu
P6r Bethem: ‘De horis planetarum'. Incipit: ‘[C]um fuerit hora Saturni bonum est emere res grauis naturae . . .’ See Carmody, 74-5 and Thorndike–Kibre 299; translator not mentioned.
P6r Almansor [pseudo-; Ar Rāzī: Kitāb al-Mansūrī]. ‘Almansoris iudicia seu propositiones . . . regi magno Saracenorum Almansor'. Translated from Arabic into Latin by Plato Tiburtinus, as recorded in the translator's colophon. Incipit: ‘[S]ignorum dispositionum ut dicam ab ariete fit initium unum . . .’ The introductory text states that the capitula were written by Almansor for the King of the Saracens. However, the author is Ar Rāzī (Rhazes); see Carmody 133-4, no. 22.1 and 1a. Thorndike–Kibre 1504 wrongly attributes authorship to Albumasar.
P8v Zahel (Benbrit): ‘Introductorium de principiis iudiciorum Zahelis Yshmaelitae'. Incipit: ‘[I]n nomine dei pii et misericordis. Dixit Zahel Bembiz Ysmaelita. Scito quod signa sunt 12 et ex eis 6 sunt masculina . . .’ See Carmody, 40 no. 3 and 3.1; Thorndike–Kibre 1141. On the translation into Latin see Carmody, 40 no. 3.
Q4r Zahel: Quinquaginta praecepta. ‘Praecipua iudicia . . . 50.’ Incipit: ‘[S]cito quod significatrix, id est Luna cuius circulus . . .’ See Carmody, 41 no. 2 and Thorndike–Kibre 1411.
Q5r Zahel: ‘De Interrogationibus'. Incipit: ‘[C]um interrogatus fueris de aliqua interrogatione . . .’ See Carmody, 41 no. 3 and Thorndike–Kibre 1312.
R8v Zahel: ‘De electionibus'. Incipit: ‘[O]mnes concordati sunt quod electiones debiles nisi in regibus habent . . .’ C. M. Crofts, ‘Kitab al-Iktiyarat ‘ala l-buyut al-itnai ‘asar with its Latin translation “De electionibus” ’, Ph.D. thesis, University of Glasgow, 1985, 29-93. See also Carmody, 41 no. 4 and Thorndike–Kibre 985. The translator into Latin is unknown; see Croft, p. ix.
S3v Zahel: ‘Liber de significatione temporis ad iudicia.’ Incipit: ‘[S]cito quod terra excitat motus. Fit igitur initium motus . . .’ Carmody, 41 no. 5 lists a work called the Liber Temporum but seems to refer to a different translation; Thorndike–Kibre 1411.
S5r Messahalla: De receptione planetarum siue de interrogationibus. ‘Liber Messahallach dictus de receptione planetarum et est de interrogationibus.’ Translated from Arabic into Latin by Johannes Hispalensis; see heading in edition. Incipit: ‘[I]nuenit quidam uir ex sapientibus librum ex libris secretorum astrorum . . .’ See Carmody, p. 26 no. 3 and 3a and Thorndike–Kibre 774.
T2r Messahalla: De rebus eclipsium et de coniunctionibus planetarum. ‘Epistola de coniunctionibus planetarum'. Translated from Arabic into Latin by Johannes Hispalensis; see explicit in edition. Incipit: ‘[D]ixit Messahalla quia dominus altissimus fecit terram . . .’ See Carmody, p. 30-1 no. 7 and 7a; Thorndike–Kibre 1217. Also known as ‘De rebus eclipsium' or ‘De rebus eclipsium et coniunctionibus'.
T3r Messahalla: In revolutionibus annorum mundi. Incipit: ‘[C]ustodiat te deus et augeat tibi uitam . . .’ See Carmody, p. 25 no. 2; Thorndike–Kibre 362.
Imprint
Imprint: Venice: Bonetus Locatellus, for Octavianus Scotus, 20 Dec. 1493. Folio.
Collation
Collation: [*2] A8 B10 C–S8 T6.
Illustrations: Woodcut initials and diagrams.
References
ISTC: ip01089000
Hain: H 13544;
Goff: Goff P‑1089;
BMC: BMC V 442;
Proctor: Pr 5050;
Others: BSB‑Ink P‑863; Oates 1974-5; Rhodes 1483; Sander 5981; Sheppard 4206-7.
LCN: 14061976, 14062024
Copies
Copy number: P-533(1)
Bound with F‑060(2); see there for details of binding and provenance.
Size of leaf: 309 × 200 mm.
On [*2v]: ‘¶ Tabula capituloꝝ primi tractatus | Libri quadrupartiti phtolemei que | ſunt 24 . . .'; not as in second copy.
On [*1r]: ‘Samuell Stallon | I[ ]a[ ] P[ ]y'(?); ‘sperando spiro, operando despero.' Occasional marginal notes in at least four different hands, extracting words from the text and supplying astrological and ‘nota' signs.
SHELFMARK: Ashm. 572(1).
Copy number: P-533(2)
On [*2v]: ‘¶ Libri quadrupartiti ptolomei || ¶ Capitulorum primi tractatus que | sunt. 24 . . .’
Binding: Contemporary English blind-tooled calf over wooden boards; two clasps and catches lost. Formerly chained: staple-marks of a hasp at head of upper cover; rebacked. On both covers triple fillets form a border; intersecting triple fillets form a frame, within which is a stamp of a scroll around a stem. Further triple fillets form the inner rectangle, which is divided by triple fillets into lozenge-shaped and triangular compartments, with rosettes at the points of intersection; each compartment contains all or half of a fleuron. Sheppard identifies the stamps as Oldham, English Blind-stamped Bindings, pls lvii B (8) 976 and xxiii 282, 300; however, Oldham's rubbing of the fleuron is not particularly clear.
Size: 324 × 224 × 39 mm.
Size of leaf: 314 × 208 mm.
Frequent marginal notes in a contemporary, English hand (earlier than Cranmer?) in the ‘Quadripartitum' I–III and in a few of the later tracts, supplying hyphens, pointing hands, brackets, underlinings, astrological symbols, and summarizing the text (sometimes extensively) and adding side-headings. On [*1r] in the same hand: ‘In uigilia nostrae dominae conceptionis fuit inchoatum uniuersum(?) nostrum peta[ ]st'. On D1r in a slightly later hand: ‘P. I. S. apud D. Warminum [ ] ab isto libro plurimum distat in ipsius Ptolomei uerbis latine additis'. Occasional marginal notes in a sixteenth-century hand, supplying references to other texts and astrological symbols; correcting the Latin versions of Arab personal names; and (once) attempting Arabic.
Provenance: Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556); ‘Thomas Cantuariensis' on [*1r]. John, Lord Lumley (1534?-1609); ‘Lumley' on [*1r]. John Selden (1584-1654); ‘Jo: Selden' on [*1r]. Presented in 1659. It has hitherto been assumed that P‑533(2) was the 1493 edition of Ptolemy given by Lumley in 1600, listed in Benefactors' Register I 12r no. 28 (‘Ptol. Quadripartit. Lat. fo. Ven. 1493'); see Jensen, ‘Benefactors' Register', no. 28; David G. Selwyn, The Library of Thomas Cranmer, Oxford Bibliographical Society Publications, 3rd ser. 1 (Oxford, 1996), 132, no. 516 quotes Benefactors' Register I no. 23, and gives year of donation as 1599. However, there is contradictory evidence: (1) The signature of John Selden; (2) James, Catalogus (1605) records a copy of this edition with the shelfmark ‘P 3.1 Art.', also recorded in James, Catalogus (1620), and although the front endleaf of P‑533(2), intact since 1493 on the evidence of a fifteenth-century inscription, bears four former shelfmarks, P 3.1 Art is not one of them; (3) In Hyde, Catalogus (1674), II 83, ‘P 3.1 Art' is listed alongside another copy with the shelfmark ‘L 2. 4 Art. Seld.', which is the earliest shelfmark in P‑533(2); (4) Fysher, Catalogus, II 374 records ‘I 2. 7 Art. Seld.', the second oldest shelfmark attested in P‑533(2), while ‘P 3.1 Art.' has been replaced by ‘H 4.1 Art'; (5) Catalogus (1843) records only ‘Auct. 2Q 2.13', the third shelfmark of P‑533(2), which suggests that at some point between 1738 and 1843, P 3.1 Art (/H 4.1 Art) was disposed of; (6) In the 1862 catalogue of the Bodleian Library's sale of duplicates, a copy of the ‘Quadripartitum' of Ptolemy with other tracts (marked down erroneously as Venice 1494) was sold to Sotheby's for 5 shillings. The strongest piece of evidence that P‑533(2) was not the book acquired through the Lumley bequest of 1599, is the presence of the two shelfmarks in the 1674 printed catalogue; and the fact that the new shelfmark and its successors are all attested in P‑533(2). The Selden bequest was made in 1659. That it included a copy of the 1493 edition of Ptolemy seems highly likely, given that a ‘Quadripartitum' of Ptolemy dated ‘1593' (presumably for 1493) is recorded in MS. Broxb. 84. 10 p. 24 (‘Cl. Ptolomæus Ejusdem Quadripartitum cum alijs Authoribus. Ven. 1593'). The conclusion must be that it is Selden's book which has passed through the printed library catalogues, first as L 2. 4 Art. Seld. and finally as S. Selden c.3. It must also be concluded that this book was not the first but the second Lumley Ptolemy to enter the library. The first Lumley Ptolemy, donated in 1600, must therefore be identified as P 3.1 Art. The disappearance of this copy is presumably to be linked to the acquisition of the Ashmole copy in 1860, and it must be assumed that this was the 1493 Ptolemy in the 1862 sale of Bodleian duplicates. Two copies of the 1493 ‘Quadripartitum' had, in any event, been donated to the Bodleian in 1600. The second copy was given by William Gent (for which see Benefactors' Register I 16 no. 41: ‘Quadripartitum Ptolomæi. fo. Ven. 1493. Centiloquium eiusdem. fo. Ib. Centiloquium Hermetis and de stellis Beibeni. Ib. Centiloquium Bethem. Ib.'); see Jensen's suggestion for the speedy disposal of the Gent copy in ‘Benefactors' Register', 567-8. Selwyn refers to P‑533(2) as a duplicate of L[umley]1542b (for which see The Lumley Library: The Catalogue of 1609, ed. Sears Jayne and Francis R. Johnson (London, 1956) 186)Alcock's 1609 catalogue lists a single 1493 edition of Ptolemy, which Jayne identifies as British Library copy IB.22900, only briefly mentioning that ‘another Cranmer, Lumley copy is Bodleian S. Seld. c. 3.' The evidence suggests that Lumley once possessed three 1493 Ptolemies [P‑533(2); the copy that was Bodleian, P 3.1 Art; and IB.22900)]. The problem of this greater number of Lumley Ptolemies may be explained by Lumley's pre-mortem bequests. It is known that, in addition to donating to Oxford and Cambridge, Lumley gave away duplicate books to his friends. If, therefore, before 1605 he gave away two copies of the 1493 Ptolemy, one to the Bodleian and another which passed into Selden's hands, these books would obviously not be recorded in the 1609 catalogue. The single copy in the catalogue must be identified as the British Library copy.
Former Bodleian shelfmarks: on recto of front endleaf: L 2. 4 Art. Seld.; I 2. 7 Art. Seld.; Auct. 2Q 2.13; Auct. 2Q 4.4.
SHELFMARK: S. Seld. c.3.
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